here is a slight modification to be made in this statement.
When the Bureaux of the two Chambers are invited either by
the President of the Republic, the President of the Senate,
or the President of the Chamber, no distinction is made in
regard to politics, and on these occasions the members of the
Right condescend to break bread with the republicans. I
should explain that the Bureaux are composed of a president,
four vice-presidents, and eight secretaries, chosen each
session by the senators and deputies. Two of the
secretaryships are given by courtesy to the Right.

This sulking in the tent on the part of the reactionists has in it
something worse than their simple absence from all official social
ceremonies. The talents, experience, and patriotism of this _elite_
are almost wholly lost to the country, and to the government. From the
ministries, the judiciary, the foreign embassies, the prefectures, and
the rectorships of the universities, they are necessarily excluded.
The ancient nobility of the old regime with its wealth and traditions,
and the younger nobility of the first and second empires; the blue
blood _bourgeoisee_, especially of the provinces, and the aristocratic
ladies of all classes, turn their backs, almost without exception, on
the new order of things, and sigh for court and king or emperor.

In the provinces this detestation of the republic sometimes becomes
ludicrous. In Montpelier, for instance, "polite circles" absolutely
boycott the republican official world. The prefect has a palatial
residence but does not dare to throw open his _salons_, for none of
"the first families" would respond to his invitation. When the mayor
of the city, before whom all marriages must be performed, is invited
to the reception at the house, none of the reactionary _coterie_ will
have a word with him and none of their young men will dance with his
daughter. I have heard similar stories from Pan, Castres, and Albi,
and doubtless the same thing is true of many other cities. But
royalists and Bonapartists would not feel too much out of place in the
French republic, for it is astonishing, at least to an American, to
see how many monarchical customs have been preserved by the present
government. And this brings me to the consideration of a new source of
weakness of the republic. I refer to its unrepublican features. A few
examples will